


Dancing On Air

by artificialperidot



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, High School AU, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbian AU, TW light bullying/low self esteem, Teen AU, Uploading Old Work, dance au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:15:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23278444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artificialperidot/pseuds/artificialperidot
Summary: To say Yvie didn’t like herself would’ve been the understatement of the century. She quite literally danced around the problem, distracting herself by moving to the music.When she first saw Scarlet, Yvie was upside down.Who knew she’d be the one to turn Yvie’s world upside down?
Relationships: Scarlet Envy/Yvie Oddly
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	Dancing On Air

**Author's Note:**

> This is an upload of a fic I wrote a little while ago and posted on artificialqueens on tumblr. Hope you enjoy this fluffy Scyvie teen au that no one asked for but I wrote anyway. Come say hello on my sideblog @artificialperidot on tumblr! And please feel free to leave feedback!

Yvie was early, for once. 

Usually she would walk into dance class very late, after having rushed out of the house and practically sprinted to the bus stop only to discover that the next bus would arrive an hour later. She blamed the government for unreliable fucking buses.

However, this time she was early. Which was nice. It gave her time to properly get ready, instead of enduring the mad fluster to get on her dance shoes and join the class before a teacher discovered her lateness. No, today she could take her time. Breathe. Ponder the meaning of life, if she wanted. Hell, maybe she might even have time to stretch before the class. That would be new. The dancers were always expected to stretch beforehand, but thanks to untrustworthy public transport, Yvie decided to skip it almost every week in favour of catching up on what she’d already missed.

When she waltzed into the dance studio (a grand total of 10 minutes early, a new personal record) she was surprised to see that the cloakroom was pretty full - and she could recognise almost all of her classmates’ bags and coats and belongings. Funny.

This lead Yvie to come to the groundbreaking conclusion that they had all already arrived. She wasn’t expecting that. She was really early, after all. Ten whole minutes early, in fact. She wondered if they always got here at this time- and if she looked even worse walking in late each week as she thought she did.

Fuck punctuality.

Nevertheless, she was proud of herself for being ahead of schedule. She hung up her denim jacket on a hook and entered the studio with her head held high in a mock confidence, swinging the door closed behind her. She glanced around the room, mentally counting how many girls had arrived in an attempt to prove that her theory was correct. And, unsurprisingly, it was. Pretty much everyone in her class was already sitting around the wooden floor in small groups, some stretching, some getting into their dance gear, and others just talking aimlessly. 

She quickly spotted Brooke alone in the left corner tapping on her phone and moved to join her friend, a somewhat smug smile creeping onto her face as she dropped her bag onto the floor beside her with a heavy thud. Brooke looked up at Yvie, slightly startled to see her.

“You’re early.”

“Hello to you too, Brooke!” Yvie replied sarcastically, joining Brooke to sit on the floor.

“You’re never this early, though. Did you get a taxi or something?”

“Nope, the same old shitty bus. Just a stroke of luck.” Yvie flashed Brooke a wide grin.

“It’s a miracle.” Brooke replied with a roll of her eyes.

“Hey, you should be proud of me, bitch!”

“I am proud. Maybe my good influence is finally rubbing off on you.”

“Shut up!” Yvie laughed.

Brooke was a pretty good influence. Yvie could admit that much to herself. She was a real perfectionist in everything she did- and more than anything, her dancing. Brooke wanted to be the best. And, in Yvie’s opinion, she was. She won competitions, choreographed routines for other schools, and was undeniably every dance teacher’s favourite. And it wasn’t difficult to see why. She was a star pupil- never forgot a step, toes always pointed, learnt new routines like learning the alphabet, and, as Yvie had come to realise today, was more punctual than her.

Yvie didn’t want to be the best. Yvie didn’t want to win competitions or festivals. She didn’t have Brooke’s perfect technique or her determination to succeed.

Yvie just danced. She would bend and stretch and twist and leap until her muscles burned and she was out of breath. The music would pound in her chest and make her head spin and overwhelm all of her senses until she forgot everything else around her.

And that’s why she danced. Yvie danced to forget. To push her thoughts out of her brain. To make everything stop inside her head. To forget the people in her life, her memories, her hopes, her aspirations, the things that made Yvie Yvie. 

Yvie danced to forget who she was. Because she didn’t want to be herself.

She danced because even for just a few seconds, she could be someone else.

Of course, Yvie would never tell anyone that. She had come to learn that it was safer not to focus on it. People wouldn’t see her emotions that way. She had no intention of being pitied by anyone. She didn’t want to seem even more pathetic.

Besides, she faced enough unwanted attention on a daily basis- her collection of judgemental glances she’d received at dance class was rather large, and not something that she was proud of.

So, she didn’t acknowledge it. And whenever she remembered, she would simply dance to distract herself.

And, even though it wasn’t true, she convinced herself and those around her that there was nothing to worry about.

She zoned out of whatever Brooke was saying- something about cats, probably- and pushed the creeping insecurities to the back of her mind. Undoubtedly, she’d come back to that thought later.

To distract herself, she opened her dance bag and grabbed a pair of soft black jazz shoes before kicking off her red Vans and slipping them onto her feet. Brooke had mentioned something about the focus of this month being contemporary dance, and she was not prepared to dance barefoot, so her jazz shoes would have to do. 

“and then, he jumped up onto the sofa and knocked over the.... are you even listening to me over there?” Brooke interrupted Yvie’s train of thought and shot her an overly exaggerated glare.

Yvie shrugged. “Short answer or long answer?”

“Both.”

“Short answer- nope. Long answer- I would literally rather watch paint dry whilst listening to a chess tournament on the radio than listen to another fucking story about one of your cats.”

“Fucking bitch!” Brooke playfully punched Yvie’s upper arm.

“Language, Brooke Lynn!” Yvie spoke in a fake posh accent, mocking a teacher.

Despite the terrible impression and Yvie’s inability to keep a straight face, Brooke jumped a little, afraid she had been caught misbehaving. She blushed slightly when she realised her friend had noticed her panic, and, of course, Yvie started laughing, as loudly and obnoxiously as always. Brooke had always been afraid of authority.

“Looks like my bad influence is finally rubbing off on you, Miss Brooke Lynn,” Yvie teased.

“Shut up and stretch already.”

Yvie liked being friends with Brooke. She liked being able to slightly bully her, and she liked that Brooke never took any of it seriously.

What she didn’t like was that she wasn’t friends with   
anyone else in the class.

It isn’t so bad, she’d often think. They all seem bitchy anyway.

But, she wasn’t kidding anyone. She was kind of lonely, admittedly. Brooke was good company until the class actually started, and after that, her full attention was given to dancing perfectly. But, other than her, Yvie didn’t really know anyone else in the class. Sure, she knew their names, and they’d make small talk every once in a while, but she didn’t really have that meaningful connection with any of the other girls.

She could understand why Brooke didn’t, either. She was so focused on her dance that she never made time for anyone else. On the outside, she sort of seemed cold. But, now even she was higher on the social ladder than Yvie- she’d taken a real liking to this girl Vanessa, and was starting to drift away from her.

Yvie knew Brooke would much rather spend time with Vanessa than her. She also knew that Brooke only stayed with Yvie because she knew she had no one else.

Yvie didn’t care about being isolated. She didn’t care that Brooke would gaze over at Vanessa during the time she spent with Yvie.

All she cared about were the reasons why the other girls didn’t like her.

Sure, she was a little odd. And she was tall and lanky and she laughed too loud and she let her anger out when she didn’t mean to. But nobody knew who she actually was as a person. She always wondered what she did wrong.

But, as usual, Yvie pushed the thoughts out as quickly as they came, distracting herself by playfully punching Brooke in the arm after her comment. She was grateful that she still had her, even if she would rather be with someone else.

She decided to take some of Brooke’s advice and stretch- after all, she still had 6 minutes until the class began. She tossed her bag to the side and stood up, stretching her arms a little before bending over to touch her toes, and impressive feat for someone of her height. Brooke stood up to join her, performing Yvie’s stretches a little more precisely before slowing siding into the splits. A smirk spread on the blonde’s face. Typical Brooke, one-upping Yvie.

Well, that was a challenge that Yvie wasn’t about to turn down.

In one quick motion, Yvie hurtled backwards and bent her back as far as it could go. Her head swung just above the floor, and Brooke flinched at the sudden movement. Yvie felt the eyes of the whole room on her. She stuck out her tongue at Brooke, who had a look of surprise and bewilderment on her face.   
Brooke didn’t laugh. She looked more confused. 

That was her first warning sign.

Then, she heard a whisper. A mumble. She swore she heard someone start to laugh. It was starting. She panicked for a split second, her regret crashing through her brain like a stampede. She must look like such a weirdo. A creep. What sort of freak can bend right over like that? She froze, back still bent like a pretzel. She’d fucked up again. Why the hell was she like this? Why couldn’t she act like a fucking normal person, just for once?

And then, Yvie heard the door open. All the heads snapped towards the door, the sight of Yvie forgotten as quickly as she had been noticed. She sighed a grateful breath, thanking every God that she knew of that the ordeal had only lasted a couple of seconds.

The door closed abruptly. There was a girl standing in front of it.

The first time she saw Scarlet, Yvie was upside down. 

Well, bent over backwards. But it doesn’t change the fact that in her first glimpse of the redhead, she was walking on the ceiling.

The girl lifted her chin and smiled, looking around the room. Yvie quickly straightened up to get a better glimpse of her.

She was pretty. She looked around Yvie’s age, but she seemed quite small. Thin, short, pale skin with a few light freckles. She stood tall and confidently, wearing a dark grey sports bra and matching leggings, clearly an expensive purchase. She carried a small black bag over one shoulder, and had a silver charm bracelet around her wrist. Her auburn curls fell loosely over her shoulders. Her pink lips formed a smile. Long black eyelashes framed her cool blue eyes.

She was pretty alright.

She announced her name as Scarlet. It was a pretty name. Of course she had a pretty name. It suited her well.

The groups of girls gathered around her to introduce themselves, a swarm immediately surrounding the small girl until Yvie could no longer see her. Yvie didn’t move. She just watched in awe of girl.  
Not just because she was pretty. But she seemed nice. Something about her smile was genuine.

There was still no way to prove it she was or not, of course. She could easily be another Ra’jah or Ariel from her confidence and her clothes alone. But Yvie had a feeling, a feeling that she didn’t quite know where came from.

A feeling that she might be on her side.

The girl was immediately dragged over to a huddle of girls at the front of the room beside Ra’jah, bombarded by endless questions and compliments. Yvie stayed in the back of the room. She wanted to ask the girl so much, but quickly came to the conclusion that she wouldn’t be able to get a word in edge ways. Instead, she listened to her answers- she was 16, she bought her bag in top shop, and yes, her hair was naturally that colour.

It didn’t answer any of Yvie’s questions, but it was a start.

The door swung open again, this time no one turning to face it, too distracted by the new girl. Miss Alyssa entered the room, ready to begin the class, and upon seeing Scarlet greeted her with a warm smile and a few kind words. Something about how she’s already fitting in well in the class. 

Before she knew it the sea around Scarlet parted and the other girls took their positions, spread out in front of a wall of mirrors, waiting for the class to begin.

It was at this point that Yvie realised that she never finished stretching.

The one fucking time she’s early and she didn’t even get to finish stretching. 

Miss Alyssa tapped at her phone, connecting it to the speaker, and announced to the class to practice their improv as a warm up whilst she... did something- Yvie wasn’t paying attention. Some slow ballad started pouring out of the speakers, and their teacher left the room as quickly as she had entered.

There were a few seconds of uncertainty before anyone started to move. As much as Yvie would’ve loved to just start dancing there and then, she waited until most people were already preoccupied by their own movements. She couldn’t risk doing something weird and everyone staring. Not again. One embarrassment per lesson was sufficient.

The music slowly seeped into Yvie’s muscles, and she let a breath escape from her lips. A breath that she hadn’t realised that she had been holding. A breath that allowed her to let go.

She kicked her legs high and stretched out her arms and twirled, loosing herself in her movements. She didn’t care how she looked in this moment- she felt like no one else was in the room, and everything about herself was a distant memory. She felt nothing but the music, coarsing through her veins and moving each limb for her. She didn’t have to think. The next move just came. She didn’t have to be Yvie, just for a moment.

Her moment was broken, however, when her eye caught Scarlet dancing in the mirror.

Dancing. If you could even call it that.

The girl flailed her arms around wildly, spinning and bending and jumping like a maniac. Her legs moved like a baby giraffe, and Yvie was genuinely concerned that she was going to hurt herself.

It took Yvie longer than it should have to realise that she wasn’t joking. She was dead serious.

Soon enough the other girls around her stopped in their tracks too, eyes glued to Scarlet. And then came the whispers. And the mumbles. And the laughter. Sounds that Yvie was all too familiar with.

But this time, they weren’t about her.

And, somehow, even though Yvie was sure she must have noticed the staring, Scarlet didn’t stop moving. And the smile on her face never dwindled, not even for a second.

Strange. 

***

Even from her first moments in the class, Scarlet had created a reputation for herself. The other girls who at first swarmed to be her friend had scattered from her as far as possible, only giving her the time of day in order to laugh at her later. 

But, the girl didn’t seem to care, even though everyone else seemed to care about her.

Even Brooke had something to say about her.

“She’s clearly delusional,” she said to Yvie over the phone later that night.

“What makes you say that?”

“Oh come on, you saw the way she was acting. She genuinely believes she’s some amazing dancer.”

Yvie paused for a moment. She thought about the girl’s confidence, the way she held her head up and smiled through the stares.

That smile. It didn’t seem boastful. It just seemed like she was having fun.

“I don’t know about that...”

“Why else would she sign herself up for an advanced dance class?” Brooke laughed to herself.

“I don’t know, to learn? Did you think about that, Brooke? Maybe she just wants to get better and-“

“But an advanced class. Why the hell would she sign up for an advanced class if she knew she can’t dance for shit? She’s so full of herself, and everyone else thinks so, too.”

Yvie didn’t know why she was getting angry. Brooke had a point. But, for some reason, with every passing word about Scarlet, she felt as though she needed to protect her.

Yvie’s jaw clenched “Why do you care?”

“What?”

“Why the fuck do you care, Brooke? This isn’t like you. Is it Vanessa? Is she telling you all this shit? You trying to impress her?”

“No, it’s not Vanessa, it’s-“

“Well then why do you care?”

“Are you serious, Yvie? I care because...” Brooke faltered. “I care because she’s making dance a joke. You know how much I care about dance... She’s an embarrassment-“

“Shut the fuck up!” Yvie felt tears sting in her eyes. She was yelling down the phone now. She couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Whatever, Yvie. I’m just telling the truth.”

“But you don’t even know Scarlet-“

“Neither do you!”

Yvie’s heart dropped in her chest. She was right. She didn’t know Scarlet. But something told her that they were wrong about her.

Maybe she was just being idealistic. Maybe she’d lured herself into a false sense of hope.

Or maybe, she was delusional too.

She didn’t know.

“I’ll see you in class, Brooke,” Yvie said dryly before hanging up the phone, holding back the tears that brimmed her eyelids.

***

The next week Yvie walked into class late. Back to her usual schedule. Maybe it was because of unreliable buses. Or maybe it was because Yvie had second thoughts about showing up at all.

She saw Brooke huddled beside Vanessa and some of her friends. She didn’t even glance Yvie’s way the whole lesson, not once. 

However, everyone else stared alright. Word must have gotten around about their argument. Yvie wasn’t surprised. Rumours spread like wildfire amongst insecure teenage girls.

Scarlet was receiving her fair share of glances too. If a pair of eyes wasn’t on Yvie, it was on Scarlet. The whispers and murmurs filled Yvie’s ears for the whole class, but she couldn’t decipher whether they were about her or Scarlet anymore.

All the while, Scarlet didn’t seem to give a shit.

Yvie danced to distract herself from it all, the music taking over each limb as she freely improvised a solo in the back of the room. She forgot about it all for a while, filling her brain instead with the emotions of the song.

This was why she needed to dance. She savoured every second of her blissful ignorance.

The end of the class felt like a rocket ship crashing back down to earth.

Yvie knelt on the floor and packed up her dance bag in silence, once again painfully aware of the eyes on her. She didn’t look up until she heard a voice by her side.

“Hi.”

She jumped. Tilting her head upwards, her eyes met an eager-looking Scarlet with an arm outstretched towards Yvie to help her up. Without thinking, Yvie grasped Scarlet’s hand loosely and allowed the smaller girl to haul her up off of the ground.

“Um, hey.”

“Yvie, isn’t it?” Scarlet asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

“Uh, yeah. And you’re Scarlet.”

“Yup,” Scarlet giggled. “So listen, there’s something I wanna ask you.”

“Uh, go for it.”

“I noticed your dancing earlier, and I think you’re really good. Like, really really good. I was wondering if you could teach me a little sometime. Y’know, help with my technique or whatever.”

For a second, Yvie couldn’t breathe. Her heart swelled at the compliment, and something about Scarlet’s dorky smile made her feel special.

Plus, she was even prettier up close.

But, she was ever aware of her classmates’ suspicious glances. A hush fell across the room, ease dropping girls desperate to hear Yvie’s reply.

Yvie was conflicted.

She liked Scarlet. She wanted to know so much more about her.

But Scarlet was dangerous. Yvie knew that the longer she spoke to Scarlet, the more the class would hate her. Scarlet could make everything worse. 

Her heart told her yes. Her head told her no.

A million thoughts rushed through Yvie’s brain at once. Thoughts of Scarlet and her smile and her compliments. Thoughts of Brooke and her anger and her judgement. Thoughts of the others and their insults and their laughter. 

And, they led her to do something that she would regret.

“Um... no thanks... I don’t really want to.”

She did want to. She wanted to so badly.

But she couldn’t face it. 

Without another word Yvie walked away from Scarlet, a chorus of quiet giggles filling the room. Guilt washed over her, knowing that the laughter was at Scarlet’s expense. 

She didn’t dare look back at her.

***

The next time Yvie saw Scarlet wasn’t at dance class. Yvie had decided to skip the next week. And the week after that. She didn’t think that she would be able to keep herself together. She had acted like a fucking idiot. She repeated the same words in her head over and over- Scarlet didn’t do anything wrong. Scarlet isn’t the bad guy. You are.

Her guilt had swallowed her whole.

She swore she would do anything to start that day again. To change her answer to yes.

Yvie found herself outside studio for the first time in weeks because she was at the end of her tether.

Since she hadn’t been to dance class, she had no way to distract herself. All of her insecurities had built up, and now she found herself at breaking point.

She needed to dance. She needed to get everything out.

She had double checked there were no classes on that night, bolted out of her house, jumped on the next bus and stumbled to the studio door in a daze, without so much as a second thought. But now, as she stood with one hand resting on the door handle, her stomach flipped, reminding her of her of all the reasons why she shouldn’t go in. 

Her fear. Her guilt. All the bad things that have happened behind that door.

And that is exactly why she needed to go in.

To face it on her own terms. To forget it.

She pushed the brass handle and practically fell through the door, each step forward making her body shake. Even just being in the building made Yvie’s head spin.

Some would say she was overreacting. Yvie wished she was.

Of course, she’d done bad things before in her life. It wasn’t a new feeling. But she’d never felt guilt like this before.

Scarlet was the one person who had been nice to her and she still acted like a bitch.

She hung up her coat in the empty cloakroom, fiddling with the zip on her dance bag as she tried to calm herself down. It’s fine. You’re alone. Nothing bad can happen this time. She slipped on her worn jazz shoes and took a deep breath before walking into the hall.

There was a girl in the room.

A familiar girl with auburn hair and sea blue eyes and a smile as wide as the Milky Way.

Of course Scarlet was there. Great. Just great.

Scarlet’s curly hair was tied back in a emerald green scrunchie, with a pair of white earphones framing her face. She wore an oversized band t-shirt, primark’s finest black leggings and not a stitch of makeup, and somehow she still managed to look like a sports illustrated model.

Ok, maybe she wouldn’t go that far. But she still looked pretty fucking good.

At first, she didn’t notice Yvie enter. She stood in the centre of the room in front of the mirror wall, lipsyncing some song to her reflection as she jumped around wildly. Her facial expressions were addictive- unpredictable and exaggerated, drawing Yvie into the story that the song was telling. She wiggled her eyebrows and opened her mouth wide, making Yvie smile to herself. 

God, she was such a dork.

Yvie silently made her way towards the centre of the room to where Scarlet was flailing around. Just watching her. She noticed little things that she hadn’t before. The way her ponytail bounced as she danced. The way her chest rose and fell with each quick breath. The way dimples appeared on both cheeks each time she flashed a smile in the mirror. Each little detail, every freckle and mole, painting a perfect picture that Yvie tried to memorise.

Yvie wasn’t one for sappy romance. But fuck, if Scarlet wasn’t the prettiest girl she’d ever seen.

Scarlet jumped out of her trance upon spotting Yvie, her face flushing red as she took out her earphones and laughed to herself. If Yvie had been in her position she probably would’ve melted into the floor, but somehow Scarlet’s demeanour never changed.

“Oh my god! You scared me!” Scarlet laughed loudly, her trademark smile making Yvie feel a little warmer.

“Sorry! I didn’t know anyone was in here,” she laughed in return.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s fine.” Scarlet tucked a few strands of baby hairs behind her ear and fished in her pockets for her phone. She tapped the screen twice, pausing the music, and let the earphones slip out of her ears and hang loose. “How are you, anyway? I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Oh yeah, I haven’t been in class for a couple weeks, but I’m pretty good I guess.” Only part of it was a lie. Sure she hadn’t been feeling great for a while: but right this second, she didn’t think she could feel any better. “Um, how are you?”

“I’m alright,” she giggled. “Trying to improve my dancing but it’s not really working. I guess I just have two left feet.”

“Oh, no you don’t! I’m sure your improving loads!”

“I better be,” Scarlet rolled her eyes and grinned. “I’m paying too much money for these classes to still dance like fucking a stick insect after.”

The two burst into laughter, the sound echoing off the walls and bouncing around the room. The sound reminded Yvie of the laughter that normally filled the room- the laughter of her peers, usually directed towards her. But this laughter was kind and warm and genuine. Nothing like what she was used to.

However, it did remind her that she had something to do.

She didn’t know how she was able to form the words of an apology in her head. But before she could overthink it, the words escaped from her lips.

“I’m really sorry, by the way.”

“Sorry for what?”

Yvie had rehearsed what she was going to say in her head every day since the incidents. But in the moment, her perfect speech was forgotten, and she just let her thoughts spill out of her brain the way they were, frantic and messy and real. 

“About the other week... when I said I wouldn’t help you. I acted like a dick, I was in a bad headspace and I really, really wanted to help you, I swear, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it because I was worried that-“

“Shhh. It’s okay. Calm down.” Scarlet shook her head and chuckled. “I get it. You were just protecting yourself.”

“I... Why would you think that?”

“It’s alright, Yvie. I know you were. And I don’t blame you for it. I’m not oblivious. I’m aware they talk about me. I find it kinda funny, actually.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! They all believe that I think I’m the best dancer in the world.” Scarlet shook her head and smiled. “They really don’t know me at all.”

Yvie sighed. “They don’t know me, either. None of them really do.”

“Well, the way I see it, people’s blatant stupidity can be the perfect comedy.”

Yvie roared with laughter. She’d never thought about it that way before, but she couldn’t deny that it seemed like a pretty good outlook to have.

“So anyway, Miss Yvie. How’d you find yourself here on a Tuesday evening?”

Yvie hesitated for a moment. “I honestly don’t know. I just wanted to dance, I guess. Dancing’s kind of my therapy. Is that dumb?”

“Not at all. Acting’s kind of mine.”

“Oh, so you’re an actress?” Yvie smirked, watching the way Scarlet’s nose scrunched up at the question.

“You could say that. All amateur stuff though. Mostly musical theatre. But, I thought if I’m actually gonna pursue it I would probably need some dance lessons.”

“Ah, so I assume that’s how you ended up here?”

“Yup. I’m very much aware that I can’t dance, but thanks to acting I’ve been with plenty of dancers.” Scarlet snickered. “I’m kidding, obviously. But you could be the first, if you’re lucky.”

Scarlet winked before dissolving into fits of giggles, Yvie laughing nervously beside her. Her comment should not have made her heart somersault in her chest. It should not have made the blood rush to her cheeks. And it definitely should not have made Yvie think about Scarlet’s full lips, and what it might be like to kiss them.

Definitely not.

It was at this point that Yvie realised that she wasn’t overthinking about anything. And she hadn’t even danced yet.

She realised that maybe she didn’t need to dance. Maybe she just needed Scarlet.

“Anyway, Yvie,” Scarlet started, pulling Yvie out of her trance, “is there any chance you wanna go back on that no? Because I still can’t figure out how to do a fucking pirouette.”

***

The two girls talked and laughed and danced for what felt like hours. Scarlet had connected her phone to a speaker, and blasted every Lewis Capaldi song in existence, including loads that Yvie had never heard of. She didn’t really view herself as a Lewis Capaldi kind of girl. But, it suited the lyrical genre, so it would have to do.

And, to Yvie’s surprise, Scarlet wasn’t actually that bad. Sure, her sense of rhythm was a little off and she danced kind of messily, but she could tell that Scarlet was a true performer. She really acted out the emotions of the song, and it was something special to watch.

Afterwards, Scarlet had suggested that she would buy Yvie a smoothie to thank her. Despite her refusal Scarlet had insisted and practically dragged Yvie to the café down the street, Yvie only going along with it because she had convinced Scarlet to let her pay next time.

And that’s how Yvie found herself sipping a strawberry smoothie across the table from a beautiful redhead with ocean eyes, twirling a strand of her own dark hair around her finger. 

The closest thing to date Yvie had ever experienced.

She was busy enjoying the sound of Scarlet’s voice as she told a story when a question caught her off guard.

“So, you never told me, why weren’t you at dance last week?”

Yvie hesitated. For a moment, she was unsure what to tell her. She didn’t want to be pitied. She did want to seem pathetic.

But sometimes it’s okay to be vulnerable. And something about Scarlet made Yvie throw her inhibitions to the wind.

“I had a fight with Brooke a few weeks ago... the next week in dance class I felt like I had nobody. And the other girls were all talking about me and staring. More than usual, anyway....” 

Yvie sighed. Scarlet didn’t interrupt. She just listened, encouraging her to continue with a nod of her head.

“I don’t know why it affected me so much this time. Whenever things have got bad before I would dance to distract myself. I don’t know.... I was feeling really guilty about you too...”

“Don’t feel guilty about me, I already told you it’s okay.” Scarlet gave Yvie a soft smile and place a hand over Yvie’s on top of the table. “And you never have nobody. I’m here now.”

“I know, and I’m so fucking grateful, Scarlet. Thank you for forgiving me, I know I don’t deserve it, I was stupid and I should have never-“

“Stop, Yvie. It’s alright. It’s in the past.”

“I know, it’s just..... the guilt didn’t really help out the fact that I don’t like myself.” Yvie glanced downwards, a pang of shame forming in her chest.

Scarlet squeezed Yvie’s hand across the table. “Well, I like you a whole lot.”

Yvie’s eyes widened. “I like you too.”

The day ended with fingers interlocked at a bus stop, Scarlet insistent upon waiting with Yvie for her bus. And, when it arrived, Scarlet leaned up and pressed a kiss into Yvie’s cheek as they loosened their grip on each other’s hands.

A kiss that was soft and sweet. A kiss that set off fireworks in Yvie’s brain. A kiss that made Yvie feel like she was walking on air.

No. Dancing on air.

She got onto the bus, her mind floating in euphoria, and smiled at a waving Scarlet as she rested her forehead against the window.

***

The next week, Yvie arrived at dance class early. Her fingers were laced with Scarlet’s, and they entered the room side by side, seemingly oblivious to the whispers and stares of the other girls.

And, they danced. Not because Yvie wanted to distract herself, but because she enjoyed it.

Besides, nothing could distract her from Scarlet.


End file.
